Stand in Solidarity with the Protesting Students of HCU
Condemn the cowardly repression by Telangana Government against the fight for campus space and ecological preservation!
Campuses are our space, not your possessions to sell off to capitalists!
Students of Hyderabad Central University have been protesting against the auction of 400 acres of university land by the Telangana government, fighting for the right to the campus space and for the preservation of the local biodiversity. Today, hundreds of students gathered at East Campus to stop the JCBs that entered to clear the land. The Telangana Police displayed uncharacteristic efficiency and rushed to forcefully drag, injure, and detain dozens of students. The detained students were kept out of contact from the outside world with no knowledge of their whereabouts. Several female students were not only manhandled by police, but were also kept in police custody late into the night. On Saturday evening as well, a protest and effigy burning of the state government was held at the North Shopping Complex in HCU, and Telangana police unleashed violence and tried to confiscate the effigy. However, the students fought against it and carried on with the protest. These new levels of shameless repression by the Revanth Reddy government betray the reality behind his worn-out slogan of “Praja Palana” (“People’s Rule”).
For weeks now, the students of HCU have been raising the demand to stop the auction and let the land remain as part of the university. This move by the Congress government is part of its larger narrative of “revenue generation” and “infrastructure development”. From insensitive remarks to spreading misinformation, the Congress government has tried every tactic to dismiss the movement. They have put their loyal and spineless student wing, NSUI, to the malicious task of derailing and diluting the movement. The movement highlights the anti-student and anti-people character of the so-called shopkeepers of love. Since coming to power, the Congress government has wreaked havoc in the lives of students and aspirants. It has carried out atrocities against the environment through the flashy and destructive Musi Riverbed project and the massive destruction of Damagundam forest. It has blatantly displayed its unwavering loyalty to the interests of capitalists, and has not made so much as a dent against the rise of fascist forces in the state. In fact, Congress’s incompetent and tyrannical rule has provided fodder to the fascist forces in spreading their rhetoric.
But repression always breeds resistance. We stand in solidarity with the students of HCU, who are waging an uncompromising struggle against this profit-driven, anti-student, anti-environment attack. Their fight proves that the struggle for environmental preservation and campus democracy are invariably linked to the larger struggle against all exploitation and oppression in society. The repression unleashed by the state government only verifies this fact. Every time such just demands are raised, the panicked reaction by the rulers is testament to their real character, and who they are truly serving. The capitalist system and its loyal watchdogs will never work in the interests of the common students and masses. This fight can only be waged independently and militantly, without falling into the trap of electoralist parties and their student wings, because ultimately, none of them serve the people. We urge the justice-loving students and citizens to rise in solidarity with the students of HCU.
Student unity long live!
Inquilab Zindabad!
#hcu #hyderabadcentraluniversity #UniversityOfHyderabad #telangana #RevanthReddy #Congress #CampusDemocracy #environment
